Reflecting on Reacting

Abstract

The Reacting to the Past (RTTP) games are a unique and innovative approach to teaching history that has been implemented in higher education institutions for over two decades. RTTP is a student-centered approach and the games are designed to encourage student engagement and interaction with the material and with peers. This pedagogy has been successful at the post-secondary level, with research suggesting improved student engagement, self-efficacy, and positive social effects. One of the strengths of RTTP games is the flexibility they offer instructors. The games can be adapted to different levels of difficulty, different class sizes, and different time frames. This flexibility makes RTTP a promising candidate to be applied to the secondary level as well. As there is currently a gap in the literature, in this article I reflect on my efforts to implement John Patrick Coby's Constitutional Convention game to the high school classroom, finding it to be a promising pedagogy worthy of further study.